by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoostory published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on Thanksgiving 2017

Need wine
for Thanksgiving? The biggest challenge with finding the right one – whether
it’s for the Thanksgiving feast or for the feast of leftovers in the days that
follow – is actually what makes it so easy: you can’t go wrong! Considering the
cavalcade of flavors and textures on the table, any red and any white and any
bubbly you bring is bound to match something. An elegant pinot? Drink it with
the white meat; the syrah will match the dark meatnicely. A buttery chardonnay? Stick it with
the mashed potatoes and gravy. Port? Sip it with the pie (and then well into
the night).

The wine
I’ve learned to bring along on Thanksgiving weekend invites? The blend. Any
blend. I figure, any wine that’s made with a variety of different grapes if
bound to match a meal that, similarly, is made with a variety of different dishes.
Here are two blends – one white, one red – plus a special sparkler that will nicely match your
Turkey Weekend festivities.

The
intergalactic vibe to Martin Brown’s wines makes the whole lineup at Area 5.1
Winery fun and approachable. The playfully dubbed Close Encounter is a mashup
of Santa Ynez Valley grapes that aren’t usually paired, making them
“foreigners” or “aliens,” according to the winemaker. Rhone grapes prevail –
viognier, roussanne and grenache blanc – and are blended with sauvignon blanc,
albariño
and loureiro. The latter is a little known native Portuguese grape that
delivers “a nice melon component,” says Brown. The wine is refreshing and
bright, with flavors of citrus, green apple and apricot. Sip this before you
sit down and swish in your mouth with bites of stuffing. Sip with your leftover
sandwich of white meat turkey, cranberry sauce and mayo on white bread.

Winemaker
Rob DaFoe just premiered The Merchant, a proprietary blend he intends to use as
an imaginative outlet – the components that make up the wine will change each vintage,
giving him total creative control. “Blends are a chance for winemakers to have
the most influence,” says DaFoe, who’s also the winemaker for the brand new
Brick Barn Estate wine project in Buellton (and whom I’ve consistently flagged
as one of Santa Barbara’s very best young winemakers). “We always try to bring
wine from the ground to the glass, but blends are where nature doesn’t do as
much. It’s a winemaker’s own personal stamp.” The inaugural 2014 The Merchant
is a grenache-based blend that also features syrah, mourvedre, cabernet franc,
pinot noir and even a little chardonnay. The latter, an unusual white grape
add-in, brings “liveliness to the aromatics,” DaFoe says. And grenache’s own
knack for matching a wide array of Thanksgiving fare (and all leftovers that
follow) is well-known – medium-bodied and luscious, with streaks of minerality
and plenty of red fruit flavors. Available at Rake’s Buellton winery (tasting by
appointment) and Wine + Beer at the Santa Barbara Public Market.

Municipal
Winemakers’ raucous vibe is undeniable, and the brand new Mubbly is just more
proof. Winemaker David Potter has long had success with his sparkling syrah.
This summer, he premiered Mubbly, an ingenious product – from packaging to sip
– that checks all the boxes. It’s approachable, fun and cleverly caters to a
wide audience – perfect in a setting like Thanksgiving where personal tastes
are as varied as the meal. Potter sources French Colombard – a white offspring
of chenin blanc – from vineyards in Bakersfield and ferments it dry; the juice
is then pump into his neighbor’s facility, Third Window Brewing in Santa
Barbara, where it’s injected with carbon dioxide to induce carbonation. “It’s
cheap and cheerful,” says Potter, who’s aiming for the casual sparkling fan as
the wine rookie. In fact, “we’re really going after the craft beer drinker
rather than the Champagne lover,” says the winemaker, who packaged Mubbly in
500-ml bottles (regular wine bottles are 750 ml.) topped with a crown cap (like
a beer bottle) and sells it in easy-to-carry two-packs. It’s an easy 10.5% alcohol
and, adds Potter, “it’s even okay to drink it right out of the bottle.”

Update 11/7/17: A celebration of life memorial for Seth Kunin has been set for Monday, Nov. 13th at 1pm at Larner Vineyard. For info and to RSVP, click here.Santa
Barbara’s culinary community is reeling from the news that Seth Kunin,
considered one of the area’s most talented winemakers, has died. Mr. Kunin
passed away of a heart attack on Saturday night, in his sleep. He was 50.

Mr. Kunin
leaves behind an 8-year-old daughter, Phoebe, and his wife and business partner
of 10 years, Magan Eng. The pair run two successful wine tasting rooms in Santa
Barbara’s Funk Zone, Kunin Wines and AVA Santa Barbara – The Valley Project,
both of which his wife reportedly intends to keep open. Mr. Kunin’s eponymous
label, which he launched in 1998, produces about 5000 cases a year and is
well-known for world-class renditions of syrah, grenache, mourvedre, zinfandel
and viognier wines, among others.His
Valley Project label features wines from each of Santa Barbara County’s AVAs,
or wine growing regions; the tasting room on E. Yanonali St. is popular for the
dramatic chalk mural that welcomes guests who come through the glass doors.

Mr. Kunin
studied pre-med at UCLA before he was recruited as a manager by Santa Barbara’s
Wine Cask in 1992. He became instrumental in building the restaurant’s famous
wine program, which has won the prestigious Wine Spectator Grand Award for many
years. “People will think of Seth as the gregarious, open-armed,
super-mentoring guy that he was,” says Wine Cask owner and fellow winemaker
Doug Margerum. “He was always in a good mood, and he always encouraged young
people to enter the wine business. He was a really, really nice guy. I’ll miss
him.”

Seth and Magan

Family
friend and L.A.-based PR professional Katherine Jarvis remembers Mr. Kunin as
pervasively positive and a friend to all. “He was positive about everything,
did everything with full force and was full of joie de vivre,” she says. “And
he loved his wife and daughter with that same passion, and he treated them like
the most important things alive.”

“He was crazy smart,
quick-witted, wildly organized and wonderfully logical,” says fellow winemaker
Morgan Clendenen. “ He always had enthusiasm for anything wine-related and knew
how to boss sommeliers and wrangle them like no other helping to organize some
of the greatest wine events in California. You could always, always count on
Seth.”

Mr. Kunin was a member
of the philanthropic Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation for many years. He had
just completed designing and building a new winery in Goleta, which was going
to allow him to leave the communal wine crush facility in Santa Maria he’d been
using for many years and continue his craft closer to his Santa Barbara home.

Seth Kunin’s Facebook
page has become a sounding board for friends and colleagues from around the
world, who’ve been posting personal messages, stories and pictures ever since
his wife announced his passing Sunday afternoon. His own final post came last
Wednesday and referenced the tricky 2017 grape harvest in quintessential Seth
Kunin style: “Bye, bye #harvest2017. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on
your way out."

Information about a celebration of life for Seth Kunin is forthcoming.

"Mountains" by Slingshot artist Wayne Dreyer
on a bottle of 2016 Willson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir

The wine
label as a canvas. It can be effective, in the way it lures the eye, and it
can be attractive. At SlingShot, it’s also a powerful thing.SlingShot
may well be the most special little art studio and gallery in Santa Barbara.
It’s a creative outlet for close to 50 budding artists from throughout the
county – men and women who come here to hone and showcase their talents, to
interact with visitors and to sell what they create. These are some of our
community’s finest who, despite their developmental disabilities, can
use their knack for art to express themselves and to become empowered.

"Tumblers" by James Jasper

SlingShot is
located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara and open Monday through Friday,
and by appointment. It’s a creative extension of Alpha Resource Center, the
nonprofit that offers life skill and training programs to
developmentally challenged kids, teens and adults. They help more than 2200
local families every day to secure housing, train for jobs and find a multitude
of creative and recreational outlets. SlingShot, which allows adults not only
to create art but also to display it and sell it, is an Alpha success story.

“SlingShot
is about the powerful ability of art to affect people,” says Tyler Willson, an
Alpha board member. “For the participants, it gets them inspired and it gives
them confidence in their art and in themselves."

Willson and
his wife, Mia, were introduced to Alpha the day their beautiful daughter Mylie
was born. Mylie has Down’s syndrome, a diagnosis her parents weren’t aware of
until the day before she was delivered. “All the tests we took during the
pregnancy came back negative,” Willson tells me. Mylie would see multiple
hospitalizations and surgeries before age two.

"Lady" by Rachel MacKenzie

Alpha
Resource Center became a lifeline for the Willsons – an immediate link to
information, experts and resources to parents who found themselves totally in
love with their second child but totally caught off guard, all at the same
time. “They are such wonderful people,” says Willson.“Not just for what they’ve done for us, but
also for what they do for so many other people who can’t do it for themselves.”

Today,
9-year-old Mylie is thriving – a happy, playful, spirited young lady bursting
with personality (and with a real flair for gymnastics).

So the
Willsons have found a special and very personal way to say thanks.

The couple
owns one of the very few vineyards in Carpinteria, a fertile half-acre plot in
the back yard of their Sheperd Mesa home of Clone 777 pinot noir. They planted
the vines themselves in 2009, and harvest each year since has always been a
family affair. The wine – about two barrels’ worth each vintage, or about
20 to 25 cases – is made by Fabian Castel, assistant to celebrated winemaker
Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyard.

"Blue Tulips" by Frank Quaranta

The Willson
Family Vineyard wines have now become liquid assets for SlingShot. The family donates
a barrel a year to the gallery, and the bottles it produces are labeled with diminutive
versions of original Slingshot art. The wine label as a canvas. And for the
artists, who see their artwork manifested in a fresh new medium and who now
have a new vehicle to promote their talent, a powerful thing.

These
bottles – assets as much for the wine they hold inside as for the art they
feature outside – are the inspiration behind Wine & Art, a spirited auction
that earmarks all proceeds for Slingshot. The funds go directly to the artists and to
the studio’s operating costs. “The more we cover their costs, the more staff
they can hire, and the more participants they can help with services and
resources,” says Willson.﻿
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

"Octopus Clown" by Megan Isaac

I’m proud to
emcee this year’s second annual Wine & Art, and I hope you’ll join us. The fundraiser
takes place Saturday, November 11th from 6pm to 8:30pm at SlingShot,
220 W. Canon Perdido in Santa Barbara. Many of the silent auction items are a
wine lover’s dream, including exclusive bottlings by Margerum, Grassini, Consilience,
Ojai Vineyard and Liquid Farm. Winemaker Doug Margerum has donated a 3-liter
bottle of the 1986 Pine Ridge cabernet sauvignon from his private cellar,
a wine valued at more than $1000. And to adorn the Willsons’ pinot, original works by
12 Slingshot artists have been selected as featured labels; the wines will be
featured as individual bottles, a select number of assorted six-packs and one
grand prize case featuring all 12 art pieces.

﻿﻿﻿﻿Works by
SlingShot’s resident artists will be featured, too. Lifestyle items range from
passes to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and dinners at
Barbareno restaurant and Joe’s Café to seafaring experiences from the Santa
Barbara Sailing Center and tickets to upcoming performances of The Nutcracker by
State Street Ballet. The Cork Pull – a $20 donation that guarantees a bottle of
wine worth at least $20 – is back. And so is Chef Scott Wallace from SB Wine
Dine Build, whose grilled sliders last year knocked it out of the park!

Tickets are
less expensive if you buy ahead of time: $50, versus $60 at the door (with an attendance
cap of just 120 people). If you’re a business or group looking for a
fun night out, ticket bundles of six are $275. Check out alphasb.org/events.

Santa
Barbara is no stranger to wine festivals. It’s become a haven for polo
enthusiasts, too. And a new fete set to premier this weekend brings the two attractions
together in one of the area’s prettiest settings.

The Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club

The Santa
Barbara Polo & Wine Festival touts itself as the first of its kind in
California. The open-air, all-day event features high-thrills polo matches, upscale
wine tasting and a star-studded roster of music. It’s set to take place this
Saturday, October 7th, from 11am to 7pm, at the Santa Barbara Polo
& Racquet Club in Carpinteria.

“This event definitely
draws from fans of all three -- wine, polo, and music,” says Joey Massa, one of
the event’s organizers. “And all three are representative of the Santa Barbara
lifestyle."

The festival,
which aims to become an annual affair, is also presented by KCRW, a popular
public radio station that’s been on the air in Los Angeles for more than 70
years. That helps explain the impressive lineup of musicians, which are
scheduled throughout the day and includes Grammy winner Macy Gray, who takes
the stage at 6:15pm. Her five opening acts, scheduled throughout the afternoon,
include buzzy independent up-and-comers like rocker LP, songwriter Nick
Waterhouse and Malian singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré.

The wine
angle is clearly Santa Barbara-inspired, with labels like Summerland Winery,
Standing Sun and the new August Ridge Vineyards. Happy Canyon Vineyard will
pour and host a VIP tent; the popular winery in Happy Canyon, on the eastern
end of the Santa Ynez Valley, is well-known for its own onsite polo field.
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company will provide beer.

The day’s
thumping action will be provided by a cavalcade of horses. Two back-to-back
polo matches are scheduled for 3pm, followed by pivot stomp. In the world of
polo, matches are traditionally followed by a stomp where patrons flip over
divots, or the chunks of turf kicked up by horses’ hooves, and drink bubbly and
wine.

The goal of
the event is, in large part, to combine multiple lifestyle activities –
introducing wine lovers to the nuances of polo, for example, and vice versa. ““Polo is a sport that
a number of people have never seen, and we want this to be a great introduction
to that sport,” says Mr. Massa. To that end, organizers have created a
website that highlights polo terminology – a “chuckker” is a period of play
that lasts seven minutes, and matches can consist of four to eight chukkers – and
suggested attire. There’s no dress code for the festival, but ladies are
encouraged to wear stylish sundresses, hats and gloves while the gentlemen
should sport chino pants or shorts and a polo or button-up shirt; men’s sports
coats and fedoras are optional. Find out more when you buy your tickets at sbpoloandwine.com.

The Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is one of the oldest in the Western U.S., dating back to 1911

Guests have
several buy-in options. General admission is $75, with wine and food sold
separately. VIP ticket holders ($185) get access to a private entrance, the
indoor/outdoor VIP Polo Clubhouse and stage area, VIP bathrooms, private bars,
the Happy Canyon Vineyard tent and areas with extra shade. VIP Box and Cabana
Seating ($265-$290) come with extras like a bottle of Champagne, valet parking
and wait staff service during the polo matches.

General
parking is $10 and VIP parking costs $40.

One dollar
from every ticket sold is earmarked for Notes for Notes, a nonprofit group that
outfits Boys & Girls Clubs with recording studios so that the clubs’
after-school youth can produce music for free.

Chef Budi
Kazali’s latest culinary project was actually 13 years in the making.

“We knew
right from the start that we would want to do a remodel,” says Mr. Kazali, who,
with wife Chris, bought the Ballard Inn & Restaurant in 2004. “But when
you’re open 364 days a year – every day except Christmas – there’s never a good
time to stop.”

Remodel or
not, the Kazalis’ property in the historic Ballard Township, close to Los
Olivos and Solvang, has become a destination all its own over the years. The
inn, with its 15 uniquely themed rooms, all with plush bedding and lovely
country décor, is one of the top-rated places to stay in the Santa Ynez Valley.
And the restaurant, with a season-centric menu and region-centric wine list,
and with Mr. Kazali’s notable reputation, is one of the very few AAA 4-Diamond
restaurants in Santa Barbara County.

Today, the
property is finally enjoying a facelift.

The couple
took a leap of faith earlier this year when they shut down for 17 days. The
focus was almost entirely downstairs; the rooms, most all on the second floor,
had seen sporadic upgrades over the years. This overhaul focused on the inn’s
reception area and living room, and in particular on the restaurant’s dining
room. “It was complete chaos,” laughs Mr. Kazali, recalling the round-the-clock
project that had construction teams working overtime and even living at the
inn. The toughest phase was the flooring. “After it was waxed and stained,
there was no standing on it for five days – it halted everything!”

The revamped dining room at the Ballard Inn

The new and
improved Ballard Inn & Restaurant features a succinctly fresher feel, with
a muted palette of colors and elegant furnishings. Quaintness and comfort
prevail, though, “in that wonderful New England bed-and-breakfast style that
Chris and I love,” says Mr. Kazali.

The crowning
jewel of the project is Chef Kazali’s reimagined restaurant, which he’s
deliberately dubbed, The Gathering Table. “We wanted a dining concept based on
food that’s shareable,” he says. “It’s the way I like to eat: I want to try
every plate that comes out!”

The eatery’s
centerpiece communal table fits up to 14 people, “perfect for a large party,”
says the chef. “But when we’re seating different guests, we only serve up to
eight, so it doesn’t get too cramped.”The rest of the 40-seat dining room features round tables and booths, but
the white linens are gone. “We’ve gone more cozy, less fine dining. More casual
and even kid-friendly. We don’t want to be labeled as a once-a-year spot but,
instead, a place guests and local can visit a few times a month.”

The new
menu, which mirrors the chef’s famous knack for Asian-French fusion, is
arranged from lighter to heartier dishes. Portions are smaller – five to six
ounces, generally – to encourage not only sharing, but also personalizing. “A
couple can create their own tasting menu and order, maybe, five things off the
menu,” says Mr. Kazali. “A larger party can really have fun by ordering a lot
of different things.” And prices have been brought down.

Grilled Filet Mignon

Hamachi

Desserts rotate regularly

Among the new highlights at The Gathering Table: Oysters on the Half Shell ($24 a dozen); Cheese Fondue ($7); Manila Clams with chorizo and garlic toast ($13); Octopus Sashimi with squid ink vinaigrette and spicy yuzu aioli ($15); and Sliders with white cheddar, housemade pickles and shoestring potatoes ($7 each).

﻿

Chef Budi Kazali

Several
signature Kazali dishes, including larger stand-along entrees, remain, like his
Hamachi with avocado and soy vinaigrette ($15); a Pork Belly with Napa cabbage
fondue ($14); the Hudson Valley foie gras with caramelized cherry and port
glaze ($18); the Duck Breast with spring vegetable medley ($22); and his
Marinated Hanger Steak with spicy charrd Brussel sprouts ($23). The kitchen,
which Chef Kazali shares with three longtime cooks, also features daily
specials. And the chef’s well-known predilection for what’s fresh, including
working with regional purveyors and visiting farmers’ markets weekly,
continues.

The new
menu, though, has allowed Mr. Kazali to “move away from more traditional
cooking, like always having to do starches and sauces,” and create dishes that
are lighter and that allow guests to experiment.

“People have
become more conscientious about what they’re eating,” says the chef.“They understand food more and they ask all
the right questions. It’s good -- it keeps me on my toes and makes me push the
envelope.”

The
shareable slant to the food has also spurred greater interest in
wines-by-the-glass. “Guests can try different wines as they order more things –
it’s very pairing-driven,” says Mr. Kazali, who’s managing the wine list until
a sommelier joins the team. The beverage program at The Gathering Table includes signature cocktails and premium sake, though the wine list remains
Santa Barbara-inspired; about 80% of the rotating selection is local.

“I didn’t
name myself, it was my peers,” he admits. “But I’m pretty sure I’ve worked with
more grenache than most people in the state.”

The Oahu
native began his love affair with the Rhone grape (and the most widely planted
red wine grape in the world) in 1999, his first harvest at Santa Barbara’s
Beckmen Vineyards. He speaks of grenache in devotional terms: “It deserves to
be shown respect. Even if you think you’re doing everything right, you still
need to nudge things in her direction, where she wants to go. Just like with
any woman. And it has the greatest payoff in the world.”

The Grenache King

Sigouin
attributes an upbringing shaped in large part by affectionate women, and by a
pervasive respect for women, for his kinship with grenache. Many of his peers,
he suggests, don’t have the necessary patience to allow grenache to reach its
full potential. It can be so prolific, “they plant it in hot places and let it
grow and grow to use as a bulk wine producer,” he says. Sigouin’s hands-on vineyard
approach includes dropping two-thirds of his fruit to allow the best grapes to
grow, regularly manicuring and picking late in the season. “It’s a waiting
game, it takes patience,” he insists. And when you give grenache all the time it deserves,
“the skins thin out, color comes out, you get that beautiful character of the
tannins and this great texture and minearality.”

Sigouin
launched his label, Kaena (Hawaiian for “potential for greatness"), in 2001;
after juggling stints at both Fess Parker and Beckmen (as head winemaker), he
went full time with his pet project in 2014. He now makes about 5000 cases of
wine a year, including a grenache blanc, a grenache rosé and eight different
grenaches, most of them vineyard-specific. “I’ve isolated some places that grow
really great grenache,” says the winemaker. That's important, because the flavors of grenache
very much reflect the site where it grows, he says. “Ballard Canyon, between Buellton and
the 154 – that’s the sweet spot. Not too hot, not too cool, just right.”

It makes
perfect sense, then, that Kaena would consider International Grenache Day a
legit holiday. It celebrates it in style each year, and this year’s fete with
Jeff Olsen at Buellton noshing hot spot Industrial Eats fires on all
gastronomic cylinders. It takes place Friday, September 15, at 7pm,
and just a handful of $100 tickets remain. Get yours at kaenawine.com.

by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoophotos by Jakob Laymanstory published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 9/7/17

“Not much of
what we do is typical,” admits Philip Frankland Lee, chef-owner of Los
Angeles-based ScatchlRestaurants. It’s a mantra that has served him and his
partner-wife, Margarita Kallas-Lee, well in the last few years, and which
speaks to the imaginative slant to the way they do business.

“It doesn’t
cost any more to have an original idea,” he adds.

The
buzzed-about chef’s star has been rising steadily since the couple launched
their latest their multi-layered endeavor in Encino in 2015. Four restaurants
in all – four storefronts connected through the back – including the marquee
eatery, ScratchlBar, where chefs playing servers drives a personalized experience
and where tasting menus can feature 25 courses. As the name implies, most
everything on the menu is made by hand and from scratch. The couple also runs
Frankland’s Crab & Co., Woodley Proper and SushilBar, all on the second floor of a strip mall along Ventura Blvd.

“Instead of
one giant space it’s four spaces of different sizes, four different styles and
four different levels of commitment,” says Chef Lee. “It reminds me of a great
hotel in South Beach or Las Vegas where you go in and have several restaurants
on the first floor. I like that.”

Philip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee

The Lees are
hoping the concept will translate just as successfully to Montecito, where,
between now and the end of the year, they plan to premier four unique concepts
inside the Montecito Inn. The 2500-square-foot bar and eatery spaces that flank
the historic hotel’s entrance along Coast Village Road have been closed and
covered up to walkers-by for more than a year. This will be the culinary
couple’s first business venture outside of L.A., though not entirely in
unfamiliar territory. “I grew up and went to high school in the San Fernando
Valley,” says Mr. Lee, 30, “and I remember spending quite a bit of time in
Santa Barbara.”

The Lees are
revealing their four concepts in stages, beginning later this month with the
second outpost for Frankland’s Crab & Co. Located inside the inn’s former
cocktail bar, this casual spot will be accessible from the street and will
feature standards like “peel-and-eat shrimp, lobster rolls, crab rolls, clam chowder
and fried chicken sandwiches,” says Chef Lee. “Like a Malibu or county line
crab shack.” Food, ordered via walk-up counter, will be for dine-in or
take-out.

"Scratch" in the works at the Montecito Inn (my pic)

October will
see the launch of The Monarch inside the longtime former home of The Montecito
Café, just off the hotel’s lobby. Breakfast, lunch and dinner items will focus
on Central Coast vegetables, seafood and game and will be complemented a
regionally focused wine list and by cocktails prepped at a newly built 40-foot
bar. The Monarch will also handle room service for Montecito Inn guests.

Margarita’s
Home Made Iced Cream will open in October, too, a pet project of Mrs.
Kallas-Lee, an accomplished pastry chef. Orders will be taken at a counter
inside The Monarch as well as through a walk-up window along Coast Village
Road. “I envision ice cream as a composed dish: the sprinkles complement the
ice cream, which complements the cone,” says Mrs. Kallas-Lee, 28, who plans on
featuring eight different types of cones. “And everything will be made from
scratch and with natural ingredients. Like the sprinkles – things like beet
powder and lavender oil and a little charcoal for color.” Among her sweet
creations: chocolate ganache ice cream on a chocolate cone with dulce de leche
sprinkles; roasted plantain ice cream in a corn cone with corn sprinkles; and triple-crème
camembert ice cream in a sourdough waffle cone with sourdough breadcrumbs, wild
honey and lavender sprinkles.

“There will
be standards, but I like focusing on ingredients not usually highlighted in
desserts,” she says.

Lobster rolls at Frankland's Crab & Co. in Encino

The Lees are
most tight-lipped about their final concept, due in late December. The Silver
Bough will focus on luxury dining – “The French Laundry for Santa Barbara,”
says Chef Lee – with only 16 seats and only two seatings per night. Located in
a space toward the back of the hotel and not visible from the street, the fine
dining venue will require reservations up to a month in advance and will give
seating preference to inn guests.

The couple,
who’ve been married for five years, is living at the Montecito Inn while their
latest enterprise unfolds. They admit their vision is ambitious but believe
it’s in synch with today’s foodie culture, and therefore timely. “Ten year ago,
it was difficult to eat well, then it was expensive,” says Chef Lee. “Now,
eating well is more convenient and very much in fashion.” And the pair sees
their arrival in Montecito as a partnership with nearby restaurants, not as a
rivalry. “We don’t look at it as competition because no one is serving the same
food as we are,” says the chef. “The more successful and the stronger the
restaurant community, the better we’re all going to do.”

The hottest
new spot for lunch in Los Olivos is actually on four wheels.

The First
& Oak Food Truck rolled into town in May. It’s an extension of the culinary
offering by Chef Steven Snook and his team at First & Oak, the Solvang
restaurant that’s easily become one of the most buzzed about places for dinner
in the Santa Ynez Valley. Chef Snook, who worked under celeb chef Gordon Ramsay
in London and New York before moving to the West Coast, is celebrating two
years at First & Oak next month.

“The
ingredients, the processing, the methodology are foundationally the same,” says
Chef Snook, comparing his food truck fare against the fine dining experience at
First & Oak. “The final product on the truck, though, is more approachable
and simple.”

The food
truck is all about crepes right now. The savory selections are most popular
with the lunchtime crowds, Chef Snook says, with options like braised beef short rib and
fried chicken with gravy. “We treat the crepe as a vessel rather than a standalone item,”
says the chef, acknowledging that the French culinary staple is a far newer
concept to many wine country visitors. A First & Oak crepe is perforated
and shaped like a cone, which allows it to be stuffed with myriad ingredients.
“We’re taking the basic crepe concept and expanding it to make it more fun and
engaging."

Chef Steven Nook (credit: Tenley Fohl)

Sweet selections include ice cream, caramelized bananas with candied hazelnuts
and roasted peanut butter with dulce de leche and chocolate “We’ve also got our
take on the great American cherry pie,” says the chef, an English native.
“Cherry pie filling with crushed graham crackers and a white wine reduction.”

The focus on
crepes is a tip of the hat to Bernard Rosenson, the Southern California
restaurateur who owns First & Oak and the Mirabelle Hotel in Solvang where
it’s housed, along with popular Sky Room restaurant in Long Beach. “He grew up
in France, and crepes were one of his favorite childhood foods,” says his son,
Jonathan, who helps manage all of the family businesses.

The Rosensons
also own the Coquelicot wine tasting room in Los Olivos, which serendipitously,
if not cleverly, allows them to circumvent some of the famously restrictive
county rules about where food trucks can set up shop that have already driven
other eateries-on-wheels out of town. The truck is parked on the Coquelicot
patio, which is private property.

“In fact, we
encourage folks to come enjoy their crepes at the tasting room, and we give
them 20% off wine flights or bottles,” says the younger Rosenson. Coquelicot
features organic estate wines, from Riesling to cabernet sauvignon and a
variety of blends; its sister label, the smartly dubbed Rose & Son, is a
project by Jonathan Rosenson that features fresh, approachable, more affordable
wines.

The truck
serves guests on weekends – Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from about 11am to
about 4pm. It’s equipped to do more, though. This is a converted 25-passenger
bus that was gutted, reframed with steel and outfitted with brand new
restaurant equipment: two crepe wheels, a grill, ovens, burners, a deep fryer,
a salamander broiler and refrigeration and freezer space. That means the truck
is available during the week for catering, and Chef Snook and his team have
already cooked at rehearsal dinners, concerts, festivals and a bevy of winery
and estate events from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria.

One of Chef Snook's savory crepes

With the
success of crepes – the truck can dole out up to 150 on a good day – Chef Snook
is already working on expanding the food truck menu – French boulangerie-style items, like salads and
croc monsieurs. All the while, he’s
conscientious about his gastronomic neighbors. “I don’t want to step on anyone
else’s toes,” says the chef. “We’re not introducing direct competition but,
rather, expanding the variety available to visitors.”

The unique
appeal of the First & Oak truck, though, the only semi-permanent food truck
in the Santa Ynez Valley, is undeniable. “It’s an easy walk-up and within
minutes you have lunch in your hands and you’re off again,” says Chef Snook.
“It’s quick and easy, and it’s pretty filling.”

In 2002, the very first wine column I
ever wrote – a regular guy’s foray into the world of wine in Santa Barbara –
was about a brand new pet project called SAMsARA. Ever since, this small,
hands-on label founded by Chad and Mary Melville has stayed the course,
producing complex wines with a focus on fruit source and quality, and it has gained
steady critical acclaim. Last week, SAMsARA entered a new chapter, as it was
sold for an undisclosed sum to long-time club members, Joan and Dave Szkutak.

SAMsARA is a Sanskrit word that, on its
website, the founders define as, “The eternal circle of life… one of passion,
oneness and harmony.”

SAMsARA winemaker Matt Brady (credit: Andrew Schoneberger)

The brand “was born before our
children were even born, so I couldn’t imagine SAMsARA living on under someone
else’s ownership,” said Chad Melville in the press release that announced the
sale. “But when Joan and Dave expressed an interest in getting into the wine
business, the idea of a sale began to take shape. They’re big fans of Santa
Barbara County wines and have been dedicated SAMsARA customers for years”

New ownership, though, also brings something
familiar to SAMsARA: winemaker Matt Brady. The 34-year-old has garnered his own
following ever since he landed his first wine industry gig at Jaffurs Wine
Cellars in 2005, when he was still at UCSB. He was promoted to co-winemaker in
2012 and to head winemaker in 2015. Brady left Jaffurs this past March.

“There was this organic, really good
feeling about the whole thing,” says Brady about the few months that followed,
when he explored opportunities with Chad Melville and heard that the Szkutaks,
whom he knew well as long-time customers at Jaffurs, were eyeing a buy.
“Everyone involved felt early on that we were moving in the right direction.”

I asked Brady this week about the
viability of boutique Santa Barbara labels like SAMsARA, several of which have
also changed hands in recent years: Brewer-Clifton was bought up by
Kendall-Jackson in May; and Jaffurs, itself, was sold by founder Craig Jaffurs to
winemaker Dan Green last year.

“Does it all boil down to affording all
the necessary resources?” I ask.

“Yes, but the most important resource in
Chad’s case was time, especially with his increased role at Melville,” says
Brady. In fact, Chad Melville became full-time winemaker at celebrated Melville
Winery, which was founded by his dad Ron in 1989, when longtime winemaker Greg
Brewer left two years ago. “It can be hard to give everything the time it
needs, and we all saw this sale as an opportunity to give more focus to the
SAMsARA brand.”

SAMsARA produces pinot noir from
multiple lauded estates, like Cargassachi and Rancho la Vina, as well as
vineyard-specific grenache and syrah wines from properties like Larner and
Melville. Prices range from $24 to $60 per bottle. As for the SAMsARA style,
Brady says it’ll remain intact: “Savory, meaty, spicy stuff from cool-climate
sites that exhibit real elegance. Lots of whole clusters, minimal handling in
the cellar and a long time in barrel. Powerful wines with lots of body, texture
and aromatics.”

One thing is new:“We’re starting a chardonnay program this
year,” says Brady, who harvested chard from John Sebastiano Vineyard and
Zotovich Vineyards, both in Sta. Rita Hills, just this week. “I’m really
excited because my goal is to make chardonnay in the style I want to drink: all
neutral oak, acid-driven but big on texture and body.”

SAMsARA has a tasting room in Los
Olivos, at 2446 Alamo Pintado Avenue, which is open Thursday through Monday.
Find out more at samsarawine.com.

For many Hollywood
Bowl concert goers this summer, a new wine series is like music to their ears.As of late July, visitors to what is one of the hottest concert venues in L.A. are
getting a chance to sip before they sit. The Wednesday Winemaker Series
features upscale, hand-crafted wines poured by the people who made them, and it’s
complimentary. A few weeks ago, for example, guests tasted Ojai Vineyard wines
poured by winemaker Fabien Castel and boutique international selections by Garber
& Co.’s Sandy Garber before the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and a cavalcade of
guests paid tribute to Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald.“I feature wines at that are made by
artisan domestic and international producers that are fairly small production
and that grow their grapes with attention to environmental sustainability,”
says Caroline Styne, the four-time James Beard Restaurateur of the Year nominee
who handpicked all the wines featured this summer. “This winemaker series
allows me to bring the winemakers themselves to the Bowl, to interact with our
ticket holders and bring our guests more deeply into the wine experience. It
definitely makes the wine life at the Bowl more intimate and individualized.”

The Hollywood Bowl (photo courtesy of Travelzoo)

The series is the latest chapter in what’s been a culinary
renaissance at the Hollywood Bowl – a revolution of gourmet proportions led by
Styne and her business partner, celeb chef and James Beard Award winner Suzanne
Goin. The pair took over the Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine project last year, and
foodies have flocked to the Bowl ever since as much for the fare as for the music.Goin and Styne are a draw in and of themselves, to be sure; the
pair has been an L.A. gastronomic powerhouse ever since they launched their
flagship restaurant, Lucques, in
1998. But at the Bowl, the proof is in the pudding, and the two have total
creative control over the more than a dozen food and wine concepts that are now
an integral part of the Hollywood Bowl experience. They run two restaurants,
including the backyard, where al
fresco dining is fueled by two wood-burning grills and a menu of summer salads,
grilled meats and seafood and an extensive raw bar. At The Wine Bar at a.o.c., artisanal charcuterie and farmers’ plates
are matched with an impressive wine list curated by Styne.

the backyard at The Hollywood Bowl (photo courtesy the L.A. Phil)

Also on the Bowl menu for Goin and Styne: Supper in Your Seats, pre-order and customizable three-course
dinners that visitors can enjoy at their box seats; Lucques at the Circle, full service dining for upper-tier
subscribers; Kitchen 22,
made-to-order American standards like burgers and sandwiches; Buzz McCoy’s Marketplace and Sushi, a
west-of-stage option featuring grab-and-go sandwiches and salads along with
premium sushi; and a slew of street food kiosks that specialize in everything
from BBQ, tacos and pizza to gourmet snacks like popcorn and nachos. Goin and
Styne are also charged with the popular picnic pre-orders and the brand
newPlaza Marketplace inside the
renovated Box Office Plaza, with options like rotisserie chicken, barbecued
beef brisket, cheese plates, craft beers and wines.Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine is part of a 10-year contract with Goin and Styne that ends in 2025 and is a joint partnership with the L.A. Philharmonic Association and the corporate services company, Sodexo Sports & Leisure.

This "Moroccan Feast" is available from the Supper in Your Seats menu (credit: Dylan + Jeni)

The Wednesday Winemaker Series is another perk for concert goers,
but also a boon for winemakers. Sure, with the Bowl’s seating capacity of about
17,000, they could have plenty of pouring to do. But this puts them before a
captive audience that trends toward the sophisticated, toward spending more on
products they love and toward appreciating artists. And for the mostly Santa
Barbara-based winemakers featured this summer, it also connects them with the
holy grail of drive market consumers: Angelenos.

“I happen to feel that some of the most exciting domestic wine
development is happening in Santa Barbara and along the Central Coast,” Styne
told me this week. “There are a number of talented people really making their
mark in that area and making really fantastic wines. I think that a lot of
people here in Los Angeles are taking notice of this and are excited about
supporting local winemakers. And yes, these people also happen to be
super lovely humans and their wines are some of my personal favorites!”The Wednesday Winemaker Series continues through September 13th. Santa Barbara-inspired highlights
include: Chad Melville of Melville Winery pouring ahead of a
concert by Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington on Aug. 23; Gray Hartley of
Hitching Post Wines sharing his wines before jazz greats Trombone Shorty &
Orleans Avenue, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and Lake Street Dive take the
stage on Aug. 30; and Black Sheep Finds, the masterminds behind the Sta. Rita Hill's Hocus Pocus and Holus Bolus labels, pouring before a star-studded jazz tribute to Quincy Jones on Sep. 6.Winemakers pour and mingle with guests at the Plaza Marketplace from
5-7pm, with concerts beginning at 8pm. Featured wines are also poured at the
bar in front of Kitchen 22.For more information on how Goin and Styne have transformed dining
at the Hollywood Bowl, visit hollywoodbowl/foodandwine.

About Me

Welcome to the online home of Gabe Saglie. Gabe is Senior Editor for Travelzoo and a respected travel contributor for dozens of TV news programs and national shows. Gabe is also a longtime wine and food writer based in Santa Barbara, California, where he lives with his wife, two boys and daughter.